8/9/2019 What to Do if the Pilot Passes Out and You Have to Land a Plane

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What to Do if the Pilot Passes Out and You Have to Land a Plane

So—your pilot passed out. The good news is the plane will probably have a sophisticated autopilot that can take

care of most of the flying for you. The bad news is you will still probably have to land the damn thing. And

since every aircraft cockpit is going to be different, it's not like you'd know exactly where to look to find the

things you need.

et's take an example aircraft—yep, you guessed it— the !"!. The first thing you're going to want to do is

 put on the pilot's headset and find the pilot's audio

controls. They'll look like this#

 $ote that there are three of these—one for a pilot, a

copilot, and an observer. The one closest to you is the

 pilot's. %ake sure &()* is selected in the %+

S--T/ button group. therwise you'll 0ust be

talking to your passengers—and chances are they sure

as hell won't be able to help.

hances are whatever fre1uency is dialed in will work,

so 0ust hold down the push)to)talk button on the yoke,

and tell AT your situation#

+t's labeled here as 2microphone intercomm switch.2

 $ow, AT is probably going to give you headings and

altitudes to fly. These can be dialed into the autopilot's

mode control panel 3%45, which is at the very top of 

the dashboard, along the glareshield#

-xpand

(irst, make sure the autopilot is

engaged by verifying that either

the %6 A or %6 7 buttons

are lit. 4ress either one if not. To

fly a heading, dial the heading

into the 68 window and press

the 68 S- button to enable

2heading select2 lateral mode.

To climb or descend to an altitude, dial the altitude into the AT+T96- window and select the & 8 button to set 2level change2 vertical mode. nce the aircraft captures that altitude, it should automatically

activate AT 6 3altitude hold5 mode.

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AT may also want you to slow down in preparation for landing. To control speed, select the S4--6

autothrottle mode, dial the airspeed 3in knots5 you want to fly, and verify that the A:T A/% 3autothrottle arm5

switch is on. +f the autothrottle is having trouble slowing the aircraft down 3say, due to a descent5, you can give

it some assistance by deploying the speed brakes. ;hen this handle is pulled back...

-xpand

...the speed brakes deploy and slow the

 plane down aerodynamically.

ontrolling altitude, heading, and

airspeed should get you safely on the

final approach course of a satisfactory

runway at a safe approach speed,

somewhere under <=> knots and  at a

sufficient altitude for a smooth landing.

 $ow comes the tricky part, landing. A

good approach speed for a !"! is

somewhere around *?> knots with ">@

of flap—though it does vary with

aircraft weight and weather conditions.

ne)hundred and forty should be fine

in a pinch, though. The !"! cannot fly *?> knots without the flaps being lowered, however, so you will need to

incrementally lower flaps as your aircraft slows down. The flap lever lets you select flap position#

As you can see, it has notches from >@

down to ?>@ of flap. To know which speedto lower the next notch of flaps at, check

the placard underneath the landing gear

lever.

As your plane slows to landing speed 3called &/-(5,

keep lowering those flaps until they're at ">@ 3or 

maybe even ?>@—AT will have probably found a

1ualified !"! pilot to talk you down by now, ands:he'll be feeding you flap settings5.

Speaking of landing gear, you'll want to lower that,

too. /emember to check the placard and don't lower 

the landing gear until you're at or below a safe gear 

extension speed. 4ush the lever down until the three

green lights illuminate, then return it to the neutral

 position.

, once you've got the runway in sight, your aircraft is configured for landing, and your airspeed is under

control, it's time to flip off the autopilot. 4ress the autopilot disengage button on the yoke and take control. Thiswill sound an alarm which you can silence by pressing this button in front of you#

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-xpand

Bou can leave the autothrottle on since

you're going to want to fly *?> knots all

the way down the chute, and it will help

take a load off.

9se smooth and gentle corrections to fly

the correct glideslope. 9se bank to stayaligned with the runway. ocate the

runway's 4A4+ lights, which look like this#

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Two white, two red, you're fine. +f you see three or four whites, you're too high, and you should pitch down torecapture the correct glideslope. +f you see three or four reds, you're getting too low and should pitch up.

%aintain a good glideslope until you cross the runway threshold. Then, do the following#

*. 6isengage the autothrottle by pressing the autothrottle disengage button#

<. /etard the throttles to their full back position.

". Slowly pitch the aircraft up so it lands on its rear tires.

?. 6eploy speed brakes entirely, and activate the reverse thrust

 by pulling up on the two levers behind the throttles 3pictured

above5.

;hen your airspeed drops below C> knots, deactivate reverse

thrust and begin manual braking. 6o this by pressing down on both foot pedals. Airspeed will be shown in the display in front

of you. +t's the left number 3<*> knots in this photo5.

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-xpand

9se the foot brakes to bring the airplane to a

complete stop. Shut down the engines by moving

the fuel cutoff switches to the 2cutoff2 position.

-xpand"

Stopping the engines will start a great number ofalarm bells, but it's fine. Bou've 0ust made it safe for

emergency crew to board the aircraft and take over.

8rab a beer from the galley and en0oy the ride down

the emergency evacuation slide.

About a hundred million pilots will read this and

have aneurisms because + instructed you to use pitch to maintain

glideslope on the approach 3pitch up if you're lowD pitch down if 

you're high5. All pilots are trained, on approach, to maintain

altitude with throttle 3more throttle if you're low, less if you're

high5, and to use pitch to maintain airspeed 3pitch up if your

speed drifts above *?>, down if you get slower than *?>5. And

this is correct. 7ut you've got the autothrottle helping you to

maintain *?> knots, and it's in control of the throttles. So the

only thing left for you to control is pitch 3and bank, of course5.